Kobe Bryant scored 15 of his 25 points and Eddie Jones had 10 of
his 21 in a decisive second-half run as the Los Angeles Lakers
won their sixth straight road game, 119-109 over the Phoenix
Suns.

The Lakers erased a 12-point halftime deficit with a 34-10 burst
bridging the third and fourth quarters. Jones, who scored 16
points in the second half, opened the run with a pair of dunks
and a free throw before Bryant reeled off eight of his 18
second-half points.

"I just wanted to win. I felt that we couldn't be bashful,"
Bryant said. "We lost our composure in the first half because
we weren't aggressive and we weren't penetrating. I wanted to
be more aggressive in the second half and get to the hoop and
get to the free throw line."

Nick Van Exel scored 12 of his 13 points in the third quarter,
including a pair of three-pointers to close the period that put
Los Angeles ahead for good, 80-79.

"That stretch in the third quarter, they took the game over,"
Suns coach Danny Ainge said. "They came down on our double
teams and Van Exel hit a couple and Kobe hit a couple and Eddie
hit one. That was the difference, it was a big swing."

Bryant scored six straight points before Jones drained a
three-pointer to cap the run, building a 95-83 cushion with 6:43
to play.

"We've had three or four second halves this season that we are
really proud of, but that one tonight would have to go down as
our best performance in a second half this season," Harris said.
"We should get an Oscar tonight for that one, you know that was
a great comeback."

Shaquille O'Neal made 6-of-8 free throws in the final period to
help secure the Lakers' fourth straight victory. He scored 16
of his 26 points in the second half and grabbed 11 rebounds as
Los Angeles moved within one-half game of first-place Seattle in
the Pacific Division.

"We really didn't come out ready to play," O'Neal said. "I keep
stressing these guys that we have to come out and be ready to
play every team. Good teams are going to try and kill us and
teams that can't beat us are going to try to come out and beat
us, we always have to be ready."

Steve Nash scored 21 points off the bench and Antonio McDyess
contributed 16 and 14 rebounds for Phoenix, which has lost the
last eight meetings with the Lakers.

"We came out and played pretty well," Nash said. "In the second
half, they played a little more intense and a little quicker
than we did, and just started to get hot as well, and that
spelled our doom."

Phoenix rolled off 10 straight points early in the first quarter
to open a 15-4 lead. Cliff Robinson scored nine of his 15
points in the opening period, helping the Suns to a 31-21 lead.

Danny Manning had 14 points in the first half as Phoenix
extended its advantage to 59-47. But Manning, who fouled out
with seven assists and six boards, managed just three points in
the second half as the Suns had their three-game winning streak
snapped.

Rex Chapman, the Suns' leading scorer, was held to just 10
points but did drain a three-pointer to put the Suns in front,
73-61, with 5:22 left in the third quarter. Jones followed that
with his pair of dunks to spark the game-deciding burst.

Both teams shot 50 percent from the field, but Los Angeles hit
20-of-35 (57 percent) in the second half and made 32-of-49 free
throws for the game. Phoenix was just 20-of-45 (44 percent) from
the floor in the final 24 minutes and shot just 22 foul shots,
hitting 14.

"I think our missing shots got them going," Chapman said. "I
was left wide open three or four times n the corner, just
couldn't make a shot. I think that got them running."

Van Exel connected on just 4-of-13 from the floor, hitting four
three-pointers in the third period. Los Angeles was 9-of-19
from behind the arc while Phoenix drained just 5-of-23
three-pointers.

Robert Horry chipped in 12 points for the Lakers, who are 16-4
over their last 20 games and have not lost to Phoenix since
November 25th, 1995.